DNA COLLECTION: The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Maryland to resume the collection of DNA samples after arrests for violent crimes, an indication that the justices might decide the issue that has divided lower courts and pitted tough-on-crime state officials against civil liberties activists, Yvonne Wenger reports in the Sun.
Bryan Sears reports for Patch.com that Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said the Supreme Court order will not result in the immediate resumption of collecting DNA samples from people arrested in Baltimore County for certain crimes.
GAMBLING NEGOTIATIONS: Gov. Martin O’Malley, House Speaker Michael Busch and Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake met behind closed doors with Baltimore’s House delegation yesterday to ask the lawmakers to support having another casino in Maryland, Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports.
Baltimore City legislators want assurances that a future casino near M&T Bank Stadium will not be hurt financially by a new casino at the National Harbor in Prince George’s County, reports John Rydell for WBFF-TV.
Gov. O’Malley and Speaker Busch proposed allocating some gambling revenue in a way to help offset losses that a Prince George’s County casino could cause for Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, the AP reports in the Capital-Gazette.
O’Malley plans to make available draft legislation on expanded gambling as early as tomorrow so that lawmakers can get a better handle on what is being proposed, writes the Post’s John Wagner.
Alexander Pyles and Danny Jacobs of the Daily Record offer up a podcast discussion on the gambling negotiations.
DREAM ACT RALLY: Amid chants and cheers, a group including clergy, unions and a university president rallied yesterday in support of Maryland’s law to give tuition breaks to illegal immigrants, reports Annie Linskey in the Sun.
Writing in the Gazette, Daniel Leaderman quotes Denis Madden, auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore as saying, “We are convinced that when Maryland voters know the facts about the Dream Act, they will happily embrace the chance to do the right thing.”
FARM BAY REGULATIONS: About 100 farmers — some delivering heated remarks to state agriculture officials — attended a public hearing last night at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center regarding new proposed regulations they might have to follow to protect the Chesapeake Bay from pollution, Dave McMillion reports in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail.
ASSEMBLY WEBSITE MAKEOVER: The Maryland General Assembly’s website is on its way to receiving a comprehensive makeover. The director of the office of legislative information systems presented the preliminary redesign of the website to the Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government yesterday, writes Shannon Odell for the Washington Times.
CRABS & POLITICIANS: Under a blazing sun, thousands of people – a few of them gubernatorial hopefuls – piled through the gate at Somers Cove Marina to get their fill of Crisfield seafood and a chance to hobnob with politicians and old friends from around the state, Liz Holland writes for the Salisbury Daily Times.
Michael Dresser of the Sun writes that one pol, Blaine Young, isn’t exactly a household name in Maryland, but the prospective contender for the Republican GOP nomination has to be a bit better known in political circles after the splash he made yesterday.
LT GOV BROWN IN CAMBRIDGE: Potential 2014 gubernatorial candidate and current Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown stopped in Cambridge yesterday to take a walking tour of local businesses that have benefited from state programs, reports Gail Dean for the Easton Star-Democrat.
VOTER IRREGULARITIES: A Maryland organization says it has identified dead people who are listed as active voters on Montgomery County’s voter registration rolls and is waiting on a response from election officials regarding another 9,000 irregularities that it has submitted over the last year to state and local election boards in Prince George’s, Baltimore and Montgomery counties, Hayley Peterson reports in the Washington Examiner.
O’MALLEY DONATES TO VETERANS: O’Malley has donated $38,000 to a veterans fund to offset past campaign contributions tied to businessman Jeffrey Thompson, who is accused of funding a “shadow campaign” for D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, blogs John Wagner in the Post.
O’M TO FUND-RAISE FOR VA DEMS: O’Malley will cross enemy lines — a.k.a. the Potomac River — next month to raise money for Virginia Democrats, reports Steve Contorno for the Washington Examiner.
ARUNDEL POLICE PROMOTIONS: Ben Weathers of the Capital-Gazette reports that in one of his last acts as Anne Arundel County’s chief of police, James Teare mishandled the latest round of promotions, the head of the county’s police union said Tuesday.
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